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☰
Charlottesville Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Charlottesville Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.0
Number of comments: 240 [displaying comments 231 to 240]
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K. O. from Washington DC
(4/29/2003)
 "A great day in Virginia wine country" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 What a great idea to start and end a marathon at a winery! The tasting room was conveniently located about 50 yards from the finish. If you are looking for a typical crowded road marathon or a PR, look elsewhere. This is beautiful and extremely hilly country--lots of dirt and little pavement. Although there wasn't much 'free' food, the deli selling the big $3 sandwiches next to the tasting room made up for it. The ice cream bars were also a nice touch. The only snag was the parking fiasco at the beginning that caused a late start. For an inaugural marathon, the RD did a great job. No matter how hard you try, you can't anticipate every difficulty. | |
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P. D. from MS Gulf Coast
(4/22/2003)
 "Loads of Hills - OUCH" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was the inaugural race... Beautiful backdrop starting at the winery... The rain the day/night before made for messy muddy parking and a delayed start - not the RD's fault. The course was extremely hilly, and should be approached more like an ultra event than a marathon - definitely not a PR course (probably add 15-30 minutes to your time). All that said, I feel like a tough guy for having run it and I have no regrets! I wish it had been a tad dryer with some sun - maybe some other time though. Support was excellent, spectators sparse (expected), food after minimal (unless you wanted to buy sandwiches. Neat medal. BUT WOW do my quads feel like toast still 3 days later! | |
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B. L. from Baltimore/Washington DC
(4/21/2003)
 "It was Hilly and an inaugral marathon" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Okay, not the easiest marathon in the world and some kinks had to get out but it was succesful. Coming home from the Paris and Zurich marathon's,I was happy to be here. Charlottesville marathon (3:59) ? It was one of those 'Oh My God hilly' welcome back to America courses. It made Ellerbe Springs marathon look as flat as Disney marathon. We had an hour delay at the start but all went well afterwards for this inaugural marathon, just real hilly. Did I mention this course was hilly? Glad to be home! This marathon has one of the best finishers medals and the volunteers and race coordinators are super nice. -Billy | |
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B. K. from Mid West
(4/21/2003)
"A wonderful experience" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Even with the parking snaffu at the start, (too many cars, too much mud and off site parking) the race was wonderful. Support was excellent, and the course was absolutely gorgeous! This is a difficult course, but if you like hills, pristine beauty and dirt roads to cushion your step, this is the course for you. Will return if I can! The medal is ceramic...unusual and the shirt is fine. It's a MUST RUN!!! | |
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A. T. from Cville native
(4/21/2003)
 "poorly organized & short sighted" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 The race started over 1 hour 15 mins late!! Although the local track club & the media sought to convince the organizers that they had not provided ample parking or access to the parking lot; they ignored these problems until race morning, when they postponed the start bcs traffic was backed up for miles. Not only that, but the half marathoners consumed nearly all the food intended for the marathon finishers! This for-profit organization only provided first-place awards for ten-year age groups (30-39, 40-49, etc.)--not even 2nd or 3rd place recognition! Is that cheap or what? Finally, there were very few course officials to provide splits and fewer mile markers! Oh, spectators are RESTRICTED! I recommend any other marathon. | |
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S. P. from North Carolina
(4/20/2003)
 "A great local race" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I just completed the half-marathon. The course is scenic with great views of farmland, and the soft packed surface (i.e., dirt roads) are a 'treat for the feet.' There are a lot of hills, and a few steep ones, especially one at the end. They wear you out! Given that Charlottesville is a beautiful historic town, it's a shame the course doesn't run through some of the historic areas like Monticello and UVA. (The Charlottesvile Ten-Miler does run through some of those areas however.) The volunteers were helpful and enthusiastic, but no spectators on the course. The main complaint is the way parking was handled. We had to park in an open field 1/2 mile away from the starting line- not ordinarily a problem except it had rained the day before and the field was very muddy. This caused an hour delay to the start, and of course made for a big mess at the end trying to get out. A suggestion here would be to consider some type of shuttle service to and from the start/finish line. But the race director deserves a lot of praise for being very hospitable, keeping us regularly informed during the start delay, and overall good organization. He can't be faulted for weather. For an inaugural run, I think this race will improve greatly next year based on how things were managed this time. | |
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t. g. from charlottesville,virginia
(4/20/2003)
"breathtaking course, challenging, good water stops" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Challenging and great views with rolling hills. The custom designed ceramic finisher medal was beautiful and added a personal touch. Would have liked to be closer to the start and perhaps some better parking arrangements. This is a must do spring marathon. | |
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R. N. from Herndon, VA
(4/20/2003)
"Hilly but pretty" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is a trail marathon, there's nearly a 600 foot elevation change and this is unlike anything I've tackled before. Still for their first effort it was well run. The only glitch was they had to delay the start for an hour because of backups getting into the rather muddy parking area. We got in right away but many did not heed the last minute email from the race director that the week long rains that preceded the race had made things a little soft. The course was quite scenic and mostly on hardpacked dirt roads. Despite the rain it was not muddy at all. The roads were mostly not closed to traffic, but there was hardly any traffic out in the boonies anyhow. Water stations and other support were well handled. My wife and some of the other spectators got snookered drinking wine in the winery which hosted the start/finish so they had a good time as well. If you want to run a trail marathon (or half, you got to chose about 6 miles into the course), this one is pretty good. | |
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m. d. from lynchburg, virginia
(4/20/2003)
"beautiful hilly course" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 A very hilly course in the foothills of the blue ridge mountains. The course winds along country roads and unpaved forest service roads and is very pretty although there are only a few spectators. | |
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L. M. from Richmond, VA
(4/19/2003)
 "Great race; challenging course." (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my 7th marathon and it was a great one. The course was REALLY challenging - pretty much all hills, but it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and the runners were friendly and the few spectators along the way were enthusiastic. It was the inaugural run, so a couple of rough spots, but they worked it out. Not a good race at all if you like crowds, but if you want to enjoy a run next to the Blue Ridge Mountains in a beautiful countryside and on packed roads (ie, no pounding on pavement), this is for you. I definitely plan to run it again next year. |
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